Frugality: connecting sustainability values to socially responsible consumption

Purpose This study aims to enrich our understanding of how intrinsic values – specifically, the United Nations’ sustainability values (SVs) – influence socially responsible consumption behavior (SRCB) and how frugality mediates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical model was developed and empirically tested through structural equation modeling (SEM) using data collected from a sample of 589 university students in Mexico. Findings The findings provide robust empirical support for the model: all SV dimensions significantly influence both frugality and SRCB, with frugality, in turn, positively affecting all SRCB dimensions, thereby serving as a bridge between SVs and SRCB. Originality/value This research contributes to the existing literature on SRCB by emphasizing frugality as a previously underexplored mediator in the relationship between SVs and SRCB. Although values alone can motivate sustainable behaviors, they may not always be sufficient to induce action. Frugality may function as the mechanism that converts sustainable values into tangible, socially responsible behaviors.